Ten-man Swansea have little trouble dousing Nottingham Forest's fire

Swansea's Neil Taylor, left, is sent off by referee Mike Dean in the second minute of the game against Nottingham Forest Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images

The first of the Championship play-off semi-finals remains in the balance but it is Swansea who will feel, and rightly, that they have the advantage. Reduced to 10 men within two minutes, Brendan Rodgers's team still looked comfortably the more accomplished side, calmly containing their opponents and creating the better chances. With the finest home record in the division, and assuming they can keep 11 players on the pitch, they will be the favourites to go through after the second leg on Monday.

"Tactically we were brilliant," said Rodgers. "We do a lot of work on controlling games and we kept our shape and structure much the same. Mentally we were set up and secure. We've put ourselves in a great position."

The tension emanating from the Forest supporters in a sold-out City ground was understandable. Failures in three play-off semi-finals, most recently against Blackpool last season, meant that Forest's good form going into this game – they took 15 points from their final six league games – counted for relatively little, in their minds at least.

With three consecutive wins, Swansea, though relatively inexperienced in play-off terms, came into the game in similarly impressive form, but they cannot have bargained for having their full-back Neil Taylor sent off for a 52nd-second studs-up challenge on Forest's playmaker Lewis McGugan. It was dangerous and the referee, Mike Dean, did not hesitate to produce the red card. For all Swansea's deserved reputation for playing attacking football, however, Rodgers also learned much from working under José Mourinho at Chelsea. His team looked perfectly comfortable with a new mindset while Forest, in contrast, appeared thoroughly nonplussed.

So much so that it was Swansea who appeared the likelier to score. The young Chelsea striker Fabio Borini, who has been on loan at Swansea since March, looked particularly dangerous with a wonderfully struck 25-yard free-kick which Forest's goalkeeper, Lee Camp, had to touch over the bar, and it was 35 minutes before Forest produced a decent effort on goal.

Robert Earnshaw's volley from Kris Boyd's cross was cleanly hit but the Swansea goalkeeper, Dorus de Vries, made a good save.

The home team tried to assert themselves. McGugan and Paul McKenna began to see more of the ball in midfield, and De Vries blocked McGugan's thumping drive before a series of Forest passes resulted in a shooting chance which Earnshaw skied over the bar. Swansea's refusal to sit back ensured the game remained exciting. Chris Cohen's claims for a handball by Alan Tate were turned down and Earnshaw, waiting at the far post, was offside when he headed the subsequent corner over the line, but Camp had to be at his best to save Nathan Dyer's crisply hit shot soon afterwards.

"In the first half we were pedestrian, and Swansea will be delighted, but physically they had to work very, very hard," said Forest's manager, Billy Davies. "We'll go down there and look to cause them problems."